Why Hufflepuffs are secretly Awesome
by LunaRowena
Summary: Everyone knows that Albus Severus Potter is afraid of winding up in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. But what if he doesn't wind up in either? What if he winds up in... Hufflepuff!


Hufflepuffs get a bad rap. For one- have you listened to the name? It has "puff" in it. And "huffle." Yeah. That strikes fear into the heart. Loyalty and hard working is good, but there's nothing heroic in that. Of course, that's even if people remember what Hufflepuff House stands for. Most often it's seen as the place where "the 'other' kids go." Oh, and the main colour is yellow. Think of the associations of yellow. Sunshine, daisies, butter. And cowardice.

People wonder about how the son of two Gryffindors could wind up as a Hufflepuff. "Does he have no courage?" They wonder. "And with such spectacularly brave parents, too!" Rubbish. If you ask me, the Gryffindors are hotheads. Well, not all of them. My cousin Molly is a Gryffindor and she's one of the most down to earth people I know. Just proof that courage comes in many forms. See, I'm not against courage- not at all. I'm just not into the whole courage-to-the-point-of-stupidity thing. I better be damn sure what I'm fighting for is worth actually fighting over.

So you can go on and on about how Hufflepuffs are awesome _in their own way_ because "they're the ones who get things done" and "they keep everyone grounded" and – the best so far – "not everyone can be special." (The last one was from my Uncle George. He meant well. I think.) And that's all true. Even the last one, though I'm not sure it's necessarily applicable in this situation. And yes, all the loyalty, hard working, fair play, and tolerance stuff does make Hufflepuffs awesome.

All of that fails to take into consideration the fact that that the mascot of the supposed "pushover" house is a badger. Have you ever been on the receiving end of an angry badger? It's not pretty. Badgers are _mean_. Oh, yes, they're nice and cute and go about dutifully digging and whatever else badgers do until you provoke them. Then you can say, "_Hello, blood loss_."

We're awesome because we're Hufflepuffs. We're awesome because we're badgers. I, Albus Severus Potter, am a Hufflepuff. And proud of it.

My family's reaction was... varied. My cousin Fred teased me mercilessly. James wouldn't talk to me for weeks, feeling betrayed as I was not his fellow Gryffindor. I wasn't actually too upset about that. Sometimes James can be a bit... James. My parents were supportive. That's their job, of course – my dad flat out told me he would be fine with me being a Slytherin – but I do think they were a bit surprised. "Well, " my mum said. "At least red and yellow have always gone nicely together."

And that was all dandy and good until two years later when Lily got sorted. Well mum, how about red, yellow, and green?

Honestly, when I stopped to think about it, I really wasn't that surprised that Lily would up a Slytherin. Cunning and ambition are practically her middle name. When James was mad and wanted revenge, he'd let loose fireworks in your room. When Lily was after you, she'd sit there grinning evilly at you as you ate your soup 'till you couldn't eat it any more because you _knew_ she had done something to your food. And then inform you politely as she ate your desert – because "you didn't finish your supper, Al" "Can I have his, mummy? _Please?_"_- _that she hadn't done anything to your soup at all. The girl will go far.

So there you have it. Three different Potter kids in three different Houses. The normal sibling rivalry intensified even more so during Quidditch matches. But mess with one Potter, and you mess with us all. And heaven help you if the Weasleys get involved.

The point being, that any of us need to get involved at all.

"No, James. I am not going to give Louisa Wood detention because she dumped you. Again." I glared at my brother over my Charms homework. He had tracked me down in the library claiming he needed me to do something important for him. Apparently we had different definitions of the word important. "Ignoring the fact that I can't even do that since I'm a _Hufflepuff_ prefect, I wouldn't because I think you deserve it."

"What's the fun of having a prefect brother if you don't get any privileges?"

"James, you're Quidditch captain. You've been able to use the prefect's bathroom long before I could."

"Ha ha, very funny."

I set down my quill. "Seriously, though. If you don't want your girlfriend to dump you, then _maybe_ it's not a good idea to go to the Three Broomsticks with other girls? Just _maybe_ she might take offence at that?"

"What, now I'm not allowed to have friends that are girls? You have plenty of friends that are girls."

"I don't have an irrationally jealous girlfriend who I don't spend time with."

I thought he would chew me out for that one, but he just sat there. "That's why she dumped me. Because she said I never spend any time with her 'part from Quidditch, and that all I cared about is Quidditch, and that I didn't even know when her birthday was and for my information it was two days ago." He placed his head in his hands and sighed. "And now she's threatening to quit the Quidditch team and I don't know if I could find another chaser to replace her in time for the Hufflepuff match..."

"Oh, so we might actually have a chance this time?" Yes, I'm on the Quidditch team. No, I'm not actually as good as, well, most of my family. But when your parents are Harry "youngest seeker in a century" and Ginny "Holyhead Harpies and Senior Quidditch correspondent" Potter, you can play Quidditch. So I made the team. Because while Hufflepuffs are renowned for their teamwork and fair play, we're not known as being competitive. Or actually good at sports. "Well, that's assuming that Thomas and Cooper don't accidentally knock each other out again..."

He glared at me. "This is serious."

"Y'know James, if your main concern about losing your girlfriend is your Quidditch team, then maybe she has a point."

He grimaced at me; that was probably exactly what he had been thinking in the back of his mind and didn't want to hear. Brotherly support: failed.


End file.
